~ Tom & Melissa Spangler
Description
We are fairly new to carnival glass and have only been collecting for a little less than two years. No one in our family or group of friends collect, but we have always loved visiting antique shops. We were on our way back from seeing some family in the summer of 2014 when we stopped at an antique shop in Joplin, MO. My husband (at that time we weren't married yet) was walking down one of the aisles when a marigold Indiana punch bowl caught his eye. The strong pink, purple, and yellow iridescence is what drew him in. He called me over and I, too, fell in love with it. Such a commonly found piece is what started our carnival glass passion.
We live in St. Louis and were so lucky that ICGA's convention was held here last summer. Of course we had to go! We met so many wonderful people there. Mitchell Stewart and Linda Dunham were especially welcoming, as was Brian Pitman. Kathi Johnson educated us about Vaseline glass, and Gary Lickver not only thoroughly impressed us with his beautiful glass, but also talked with us for a while about carnival glass.
While we haven't been to other carnival glass conventions since then, we have met so many more collectors through social media and hope to meet many of them in person at HOACGA this year.
So while we may not have a true textbook definition mentor, we feel truly blessed to be included in such a great collector family. <smile> Happy collecting!"
~Tom & Melissa Spangler
